Old Gals

I love that old gal,
All skinny and dry.
Eyes always worried,
Smile upside down.
The mouth of a disappointed child,
Eyes that have seen hard things.

That old paper birch out back,
Stands all lonesome,
Covered with brown, frowning scars,
Gracefully bowing under winter’s weight of snow and ice.
In the spring that old tree bears leaves sporting edges already brown.
Drops their weight gratefully at the first glance of fall.